


Coffee and a Conversation

by stareyednight



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bechdel Test Pass, Female Friendship, Gen, Iron Man 2, Natalie Rushman - Freeform, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-21
Updated: 2013-02-21
Packaged: 2017-12-03 03:40:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/693695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stareyednight/pseuds/stareyednight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Iron Man 2, Pepper has to come to terms with Natalie not being who she said she was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee and a Conversation

**Author's Note:**

> It's possible I'm a little obsessed with Natalie Rushman.

The morning after Vanko, Hammer and Stark Expo went up in flames, Pepper was still at Stark Industries New York office by 8:30 am. Tony was sleeping of weeks of stress and insomnia (and almost _dying_ ), but Stark Industries needed their CEO front and centre for the fallout and the clean-up. She had a press conference at eleven and was certain the PR department would have more for her as the day went on.

She was just passing Natalie's desk, a stray thought about sending her for a really big coffee and maybe an enormous danish when she arrived, when Pepper remembered. Happy's stunned recounting of his part of the night and Tony's admission of Natalie's real job had been a genuine shock. Good lord, had she actually made a secret agent organise her meetings and her dry cleaning? Still faintly mortified, she opened her office door to the scent of coffee.

There was a venti Starbucks cup on her desk, with a brown paper bag beside it. But, even caffeine wasn't what held Pepper's attention, but the woman who stood in front of the desk. It was Natalie, but it wasn't. Her eyes were cooler, assessing, and her jaw was set firmer. She wore jeans, boots and a blazer; subtle, but miles from Natalie's office-chic-on-a-budget.

“I'm not sure what to call you,” Pepper said a bit sharply as she crossed to set her bag on the desk. There was part of her that felt betrayed and part of her that stung at her stupidity to have been played so easily.

“Natasha Romanov. I'm an agent with SHIELD. I work with Agent Coulson.” Her voice was cooler, too; clipped and no nonsense.

“So, what, you were assigned to spy on Tony and somehow ended up as my assistant? How could you even know Tony would hire you?” Pepper picked up the coffee and looked at Natasha over the lid before taking a sip. The jolt of caffeine was so welcome it took her a second to realise it was a vanilla latte with a shot of hazelnut, her special treat coffee, and Pepper was almost irrationally angry Natalie- Natasha- knew her well enough to know exactly what coffee Pepper would have sent her for this morning.

“It's my job to know,” Natasha said matter-of-factly and the look she returned Pepper could have meant Tony, or maybe the coffee, but probably both. “And, I'm the best. That's why they sent me. I could keep an eye on Stark and protect you if it came to that.”

“And when it was done,” Pepper asked, gripping her coffee cup with both hands. “If Tony had fixed his arc reactor, but Vanko and Hammer hadn't... happened, what would have happened to Natalie?”

Natasha shrugged. “Family emergency, sick mother, nervous breakdown. Whatever would have had the least impact. You wouldn't have remembered me in six months and everyone would have gone on as before.”

“And now?”

“Now, I go back to my normal job.”

“Secret agent-ing?” Pepper asked, sipping her coffee as she turned on her computer, tacitly letting it go with the flippant response.

The corner of Natasha's lips quirked. “Secret agent-ing,” she confirmed and Pepper smiled back.

“Why don't you sit down?” Pepper gestured to the chairs in front of her desk. “You don't need to stand.”

“I'm going to go, before the rest of the staff arrives. I just wanted to-” Natasha paused for a split second. “I wanted to make sure we were square. We spent a lot of time together and I didn't want you to to resent SHIELD, or me. And, this was definitely one of my better deep cover missions,” she conceded with some humour. “Much better food.”

Pepper laughed and saluted her with the coffee. “Stark Industries strives to provide the best for _all_ it's employees. Even the fake ones.” She set the coffee down and leaned forward. “Thank you. For what you did for Tony and for being the best assistant I ever had. We're more than square.”

“You only ever had one assistant,” Natasha pointed out.

“Still. You've ruined me for the future. Where am I going to find someone who speaks five languages, wrangles men like sheep and can keep up in heels?”

Natasha raised an eyebrow. “I'll make some calls.” She turned to go, but Pepper stopped her.

“Just, I'm curious... Was everything made up? I mean, we talked a lot during flights, in the car. Your university days, Tokyo, your sister Claire..?”

Natasha's lip twitched. “Most of it,” she admitted. “But... let's just say Claire is based on someone who wouldn't be thrilled to know that I've told Tony Stark's girlfriend and Stark Industries CEO that's what I call him during missions.”

Pepper laughed again. “I won't tell. But, if you're on the West Coast anytime, let me know and we could get lunch. You can tell me non-classified things and I'll tell you what Tony's managed to weld himself to.”

True to her occupation, Natasha only let the surprise flicker across her face for a second. Then, she smiled genuinely. “That would be nice. I'll let you know when I'm out your way.” With that, she turned and crossed to the door, much quieter than Pepper would have thought possible, and exited.

Pepper shook her head in disbelief and turned back to her computer. The paper bag still on her desk caught her sleeve and rustled. She finally opened it and peered in. Inside was an enormous danish.

 

Three days later, back in California, there was a knock on her office door. Sylvia, the temp HR had sent her, poked her head in.

“Miss Potts, there's someone here to see you. She says she's here for her interview?”

“Interview?”

“For your permanent assistant. It was already on your calender. HR must have put it there?”

Pepper picked up her StarkPad as she nodded. “Give me a minute and then show her in.” Sylvia withdrew as Pepper opened her calender. Sure enough, there was an appointment for two o'clock that she didn't remember making. When she opened the appointment a little note popped up.

_I hope Gemma proves to be just as qualified as Natalie. -NR_

The note disappeared as Sylvia knocked and opened the door again. Pepper set the tablet aside and looked up as Sylvia led in a tiny blonde in four inch heels.

“Miss Potts, this is Gemma Ryan.”

“Thank you, Sylvia. Please, have a seat, Miss Ryan. Now, let's pretend I know nothing about you, and tell me about yourself.”

The young woman crossed her legs smoothly as she sat down. “It's lovely to meet you, Miss Potts. I am a graduate of Berkeley's International Studies program,” she said in a soft southern accent. “I speak six languages; Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Japanese, French and Arabic, and SHIELD recruited me to be an analyst last year.” She smiled at Pepper's surprise. “I have a brown belt in jiu-jitsu, but I am useless with a handgun and when I failed to qualify on the range, Agent Romanov and Agent Coulson suggested there might be a job I was better suited for.”

Pepper reached for the resume Gemma held out and as she scanned it she smiled. She looked up at Gemma. “Well, Miss Ryan, I hope you travel well.”


End file.
